


let my heart burst

by Cashay



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Claustrophobia, Elevators, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Beta Read, fear of the dark, hyperventilation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-05
Updated: 2012-12-05
Packaged: 2017-11-20 09:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/584018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cashay/pseuds/Cashay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had been confined in too many dark, small rooms without an exit to still enjoy it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	let my heart burst

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mithrel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mithrel/gifts).



> not entirely satisfied with this, it feels too clumsy, I hope you still enjoy it :)

The latest briefing had left Clint agitated and angry. If there was one thing that made him instantly dislike an agent it was questioning his skills to get a job done. There was a fine line between professional concern for a mission and just being plain insulting. This asshat had clearly crossed it.

It had taken all of his willpower to not punch the guy and even then it had been a close call. Really, if Steve hadn't dragged him from the room and told him – in no uncertain terms – to cool his heels it would've probably ended less pretty.

He barely noticed how Phil slipped into the elevator as well just before the doors closed, but he glared at him nonetheless when he noticed.

“Jones won't be working with you again,” Phil told him when the elevator started to move. And how the hell he had found out in a matter of a couple of minutes what had happened Clint really didn't want to know.

In Clint the need to profoundly thank Coulson and to snap at him because he could take care of himself were warring against each other but he still hadn't reached a decision when the elevator came to a sudden, screeching halt.

And really, he was going to be stuck in an elevator in the most high-tech tower in the world? Stark was never going to live this one down.

Then the lights flickered and all of a sudden it was dark and not so funny anymore. He just hoped Stark didn't get the brilliant idea to create an airtight elevator, it would be something that he'd do.

Already Clint could feel his breath speeding up. God, he hated confined spaces and he hated it when it was dark. He was an archer, he relied on his eyes, he might be a decent fighter even when blind but that didn't mean that he was comfortable with it.

“Hey Clint. Take deep breaths for me.”

Phil's voice was low and soothing. Only now did Clint realize that he had started to hyperventilate. All the other agents might think that he just loved small, confined spaces since he was always hanging out in the air duct but Phil knew that it was the fact that no one could move as fast and efficient in there as him that mattered. That and that he had always had an out.

He had been confined in too many dark, small rooms without an exit to still enjoy it.

Clint really, desperately, wanted to do what Phil was telling him to do but he just couldn't get his breathing under control. He had never intended to have a panic attack anywhere outside the security of his own home but it seemed like he didn't have much of a choice anymore.

“Clint!” Coulson's voice sounded harsher and more worried than Clint had ever heard it.

Soundly he found himself yanked back against Coulson, his back pressed against his Handler's chest, how he could move so surely in the pitch black room Clint wasn't sure. For a moment he was still tense with anticipation but when Coulson wrapped his arms around him he couldn't help but relax back against his lover's chest.

Phil pressed a soft kiss against his cheek, his head resting on Clint's shoulder.

“Just breath with me. That's it. Just breath, slow and steady.”

It was easy to focus on Phil's voice and his chest moving slowly up and down against Clint's back. He trusted Ph3il without a doubt, he had always been there when Clint had needed him. He'd been the one who had pulled him out of every single screwed up situation he had ever been in – with the exception of Loki maybe – but even then it had been Coulson who put him back together in the aftermath.

He found himself slowly being lulled into a sense of calm. His whole being was focused on Phil's breathing, the way his chest was moving. The soothing words were a background noise by now, though one that kept him focused and grounded.

Despite the fact that he was trapped in a small metal container with no means to escape Clint didn't have a single ounce of panic left in his body.

By the time Stark's men got them out of the elevator Clint was fast asleep.


End file.
